Investing in champagne
Wine specialist and dealer Lambert Jemley talks us through the top champagne houses to start collecting and the key vintage years to invest in
Lambert Jemley, managing director at Acker Merrall & Condit, an American wine shop and leading wine auction house, says investing in champagne is incredibly rewarding as vintages from the greatest producers and winemakers will live and drink well for a long time if stored properly. ‘ The most famous champagnes from the greatest vintages can last decades and increase in value if stored under optimal conditions – ideally 10–12 degrees Celsius,’ he says. ‘But it’s important to be discriminating in what you buy if you are collecting and hope for increased values over the years.’
If you’re starting out, Jemley suggests buying and drinking the classic, great brands such as Dom Pérignon, Krug, Taittinger, Roederer, Bollinger, Salon and Pol Roger. Prices range from about £40 to £230 a bottle for vintage Krug or older releases of Dom Pérignon, and can rise if they are particularly rare. ‘A good rule of thumb is to buy one or more cases for drinking and one or more of the very, very best and greatest champagnes to hold back for potential investment gains,’ Jemley advises. ‘Recently, more winemakers and growers in Champagne, who previously sold their wines and grapes to the big brands, have started keeping their champagne and bottling it under their own name, so ask your wine merchant who else is making wonderful champagne.’ When asked which vintages we should be investing in, Jemley tells us: ‘ The 1996 vintage is one of the greatest vintages of all time. The conditions were perfect – the grapes were ripe yet not too ripe so the acidity that will enable these champagnes to age for decades is present too. 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 are also all excellent vintages. Other famous years o ered occasionally in the wine and auction market are 1990, 1988, 1985, 1982, 1979, 1975 and other older vintages.’